ERIC Number: EJ1079316
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Oct
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Characteristics of Fluency and Speech in Two Families with High Incidences of Stuttering
Stager, Sheila V.; Freeman, Frances J.; Braun, Allen
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v58 n5 p1440-1451 Oct 2015
Purpose: This study presents data from 2 families with high incidence of stuttering, comparing methods of phenotype assignment and exploring the presence of other fluency disorders and corresponding speech characteristics. Method: Three methods for assigning phenotype of stuttering were used: self-identification, family identification, and expert identification. Agreement on which individuals were assigned by each of these methods was studied. Multiple measures of fluency and speech production were obtained. Results: Self-reports and descriptions of blocking rather than self-identification as a person who stutters demonstrated the best agreement with expert identification of stuttering. Family identification showed poor agreement with both expert and self-identification of stuttering. Using binary categories of fluent or stuttering, 90% of individuals in 1 family were classified by expert consensus. Only 70% of the other family could be similarly categorized. Experts required 2 other categories, cluttering and other fluency disorders, to fully characterize dysfluency within this family. These 2 families also demonstrated differences in speech production. Conclusion: Some families with high incidence of stuttering may also have high incidence of other fluency disorders and other speech-production difficulties. This finding may have ramifications for genetic studies, including criteria for defining phenotype and collapsing data across multiple families.
Descriptors: Stuttering, Family (Sociological Unit), Comparative Analysis, Disease Incidence, Speech Impairments
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 97-DC-0002